


Forgive Me Barry

by charliepower



Series: Coldflash Prompts [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, speedforce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 21:12:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6923515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charliepower/pseuds/charliepower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The speedforce realm saves Len and tells him he has two choices: he can either move on as the person he's become, or he can go back to his life on earth as the person he was before the waverider because without Captain Cold to be his villain, the Flash will never get strong enough or skilled enough to survive all of his challenges in life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgive Me Barry

 

****Len felt like his whole body was on fire, but he guessed that was only to be expected when you exploded. Mick would be so jealous.

But the burning started to fade away and Len dared to open his eyes. At first there was just a bright white light but images slowly started to clear in front of him.

Len was sitting on a park bench in Central City and he had no idea how he had got there. But that wasn't the biggest problem. The problem was that he was supposed to be dead.

"Beautiful isn't it?" A familiar voice asked and Len would have liked to have said that he didn't jump, but given the circumstance he was sure that it was allowed.

Turning around to see who had spoke he was surprised to see none other than Barry Allen standing behind him.

"How..."

"Oh I'm not Barry, I just felt this particular form would be more comforting to you. If you'd like I can change, perhaps Mick Rory or Lisa Snart would be preferable"

Len just shook his head as the fake Barry came round and sat next to him.

"What's going on? I'm meant to be dead?"

Not Barry laughed.

"Oh no we couldn't have that"

"We?"

"Leonard Snart how much do you know about the speed force?"

"I know it's what Barry's power comes from, he's tried explaining it to me before but I don't think it's something someone not connected to it will ever really understand".

Not Barry nods his head.

"Yes I suppose you're right."

The two sit in silence for a few moments before something in Len's brain suddenly clicks into place.

"You've figured it out haven't you?" Not Barry looks almost proud.

"I'm in the speedforce aren't I … You're the Speedforce?"

"Yes, you always were so smart Lenny, so like our Barry Allen"

"You've met Barry"

"Ah yes, our Barry Allen was here some time ago"

"Why what happened?"

"I assure you he is perfectly fine."

"If he was fine he wouldn't have been here" Len half snarled and the Speedforce sighed.

"I suppose it won't matter if I tell you. Our Barry, He lost his powers and in trying to retrieve them almost died, we were not sure he deserved them again after he gave us up so willingly"

"I'm sure it was for a valid reason"

"In his eyes perhaps the life of another was a valid enough excuse, in ours however, it was not"

The Speedforce looked almost put out and Len smirked, of course Barry would give up everything for someone else.

"He is okay now?"

"Okay … He has his powers so yes he is okay in our eyes"

"Would he be okay in my eyes?"

The Speedforce says nothing for a few moments.

"Barry Allen will not be 'okay' in your eyes. His father has been murdered by Zoom, and the day after that incident he was told of your death." Len's heart clenched, Henry was the only blood family Barry had left, he needed to get back to him, he needed to tell Barry it was okay, he needed – wait.

"I thought you said I wasn't dead?"

"Your old self is most likely going to be dead Leonard Snart"

"Most likely?"

"Yes, we need to present you with a choice. A difficult choice by even our standards."

"Amuse me" Len drawled.

"Leonard Snart, after sacrificing himself for his team became a hero. Time after that cannot be fixed. We cannot see which of the two paths will happen and one of them is… less than ideal"

"What are these two paths?"

"One path has you going back to your team on the waverider where you will help them defeat Vandal Savage and many more opponents to the timeline to come. In the second, you will wake in Central City and continue life as the villain Captain Cold, nemesis to The Flash"

 

_"How long do you think we can keep this up Len?" Barry yelled from across the room, "Someone is going to find out soon and then what? I lose my job as a CSI? You get arrested? Your Rogue's kill you for betraying you?" His voice cracks shouting the last sentence._

_"My Rogue's won't kill me for fucking the Flash. If anything they'll see the tactical advantage"_

_"Tac ... Is that all I am to you Len? A tactical advantage? A cheap screw?"_

_"I've never pretended to want any more from you Barry"_

_"Don't think you can say that to me Len because I see you okay? I see past this 'Captain Cold' crap. I know that you could hit me with your gun if you wanted but you don't. I know that us basically living together isn't for convenience in our situation. I know that when I wake up in the morning with you looking at me that – god, that there's love in your eyes Len."_

_"Fine Barry! Is that what you want me to say? That I love you? Because I do, but what is that supposed to even mean? It isn't going to give us the happy ending you want!"_

_"...You love me?" Len just looked at him. "If you really do then tell me yes and I'll fight for this Len. God I'll fight with everything I have. But if you tell me no I'm leaving because I don't think I can go on without having all of you anymore."_

_The two men stared at each other for a minute and Len finally chokes out a "yes"._

"I take it there's more to it?"

 

"Yes. If you were to follow the first path, Barry Allen will not have his historical nemesis Captain Cold and so he will not be challenged enough, meaning when the time comes Barry will not be strong or skilled enough to take on future threats. He will die.-"

 

_"Where the fuck is Barry?" Len asked storming into the cortex of STAR labs._

_Caitlin and Cisco blanched as they turned around to face Len._

_"Look man you can't be here, leave the villain stuff to-"_

_Len powered up his gun and pointed it at the two._

_"Tell me where he is now, and tell me exactly what happened with that creep"_

_Caitlin's face suddenly went blank as if she had pieced something together, she nodded at Cisco._

_"But-" Cisco tried to protest but Caitlin glared at him, silencing the complaint.._

_"This way" The Doctor said and Len followed her and Cisco to a room next to the cortex._

_Len felt his heart tighten when his eyes landed on Barry. He looked so broken and Len noticed he even had a neck cast on._

_"What happened?"_

_"Zoom. Barry tried to go against him and it's resulted in far too many bones being broken including his back and spine"_

_"Can he? …"_

_"Walk. No not yet, but we're hoping with some therapy"_

_Suddenly Barry's hand twitched and his eyes started to open._

_"L-len?"_

_"I'm here Barry" Len said moving forward to take Barry's hand in his._

_Cisco looks surprised but Caitlin just stared at the two before whispering something to Cisco, causing him to leave the room._

_"I'll give you two a minute"_

_As soon as they were alone Barry began to cry._

_"God Len, what am I going to do, I c-can't beat him."_

_"You will Scarlet"_

_"Really?! Can y-you not see w-what he's done to me?" Barry snapped and Len winced._

_"Yeah Barry I did see, I saw everything and I couldn't do anything to protect you."_

_"Len I-"_

_"No Barry it's okay, just rest and we'll talk later, besides I think I have some explaining to do to your friends"_

_"Probably"_

_Len headed towards the door, "Never stop fighting kid"_

"-However if you return as Captain Cold you will do so with no memories of your past together, the only thing you'll remember about The Flash is that he is your enemy, that he pushes you and that he is nothing more than a hobby for you, something for you to beat-"

"That's not true" Len snaped.

"No but it used to be, and it will be again soon"

_"Marry me" Len said and Barry laughed for a moment before going still._

_"Wait you're serious?"_

_"Barry when I saw you there half dead I realised that I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you"_

_"Len you're just panicking okay? Why don’t you calm down and we'll just forget you said anything"_

_"Barry I'm not panicking … I'm excited and happy. Happier than I've ever been because of you"_

_Barry paused for a moment, deep in thought._

_"What about the Rogue's, the police … our friends and family?"_

_"Fuck them Barry" Len said, putting his hands on either side of Barry's face and Barry laughed, "We'll fight with everything we have okay?"_

_Barry laughed again and tears fell down his face._

_"So what do you say Scarlet, want to marry me?"_

_"God Len, yes I'll marry you"_

 

"So what happens if I do say yes?"

"You'll return to Central City and continue as Captain Cold, as I said"

"Just without my memories"

"Exactly"

"Surely Mick or Lisa will tell me"

"They will have the situation explained and will understand. They will be told it is for your own good"

"You'll have to tell them if I find out I'll die, or they'll never believe I agreed to this"

"That is noted, thank you Leonard Snart"  

"And Barry?"

"Barry will still remember"

"How much"

"All of it"

 

_"Snart?" Len turned around and Detective West was standing at the door._

_"If you're going to try and stop this you have another thing coming Detective, Lenny isn't about to quit this" Lisa all but snarled and the Detective raised his hands in surrender._

_"I just came here to say that … look I know that I haven't exactly been supportive in this -"_

_Mick, Lisa and Len all snorted._

_"-but I see that you make Barry happy, and he's been telling me all this 'saving the world' nonsense you've been doing, so I wanted to give you as much of my blessing as you're ever going to get"_

_Len nodded, "Thank you Detective"_

_Joe turned around and headed towards the door._

_"But Snart, if you ever even entertain hurting my son after this day … I'll kill you myself" The man walked out of the door and Lisa laughed, dragging her brother outside the labs, to the same place Snow and her husband had got married._

_After a few moments of awkward shuffling Len turned to his sister, worried. What if Barry had decided to back out? What if he'd realised he deserved better than to marry a criminal 17 years older than him._

_"Relax Lenny he'll be here"_

_As if he'd heard them talking about him Barry suddenly appeared in front of Len and pulled a face of apology._

_"Sorry everyone" He said and their small group of guests laughed._

_"Really Barry?" Stein tutted and Barry went red._

_"Hero business waits for no one"_

_Most people nodded in agreement, appreciating the trouble a city could cause._

_Len didn't even hear Stein as he spoke, he couldn't take his eyes off of Barry, of his soon to be husband. He only really snapped out of his trance when he realised it was his time to speak._

_"Barry Allen, Scarlet, for so long I had a dark view of life, I had long given up seeing anything good in the world outside of my sister but you changed that. I owe so much to you because you haven't only made me the happiest man alive but you've also pushed me to aspire to be a better person. If it hadn't been for you I never would have even joined the legends. You made me realise that I was worth more, that I was worth being better and you've saved me in more ways than I can ever explain. So Barry, the man I love, thank you for agreeing to marry me even though I'm always driving you crazy with my stupid puns and sarcastic attitude. And in marrying you here today I promise to do good by you, I promise to always try and be the best version of myself"_

_He put the ring on Barry's finger and then wiped the tears that had spilt down his lovers face._

_"Leonard Snart, my Len. When you first came into my life you certainly made a big first impression-"_

_Their friends and family laugh, the loudest coming from Felicity who had been there the first time they'd come across Captain Cold._

_"But overtime I got to know the real you. I realised that you were so much more than you seemed, in you I saw something worth saving just as I had been giving up, just as everything had got too much for me. I first realised that I'd do anything for you when your sister came to me saying you were missing and I felt my heart break. I first knew how good you was when I realised that you would do anything for those you loved and I loved that about you. Everything you do makes me love you every bit more and the way you grow to become a better person every day means more to me than I could ever tell you. So Lenny thank you for letting me in when the people in your past made that so hard for you. Thank you for deciding I was worth being in you family when you're so cautious about who you let in. Leonard Snart I promise that in our marriage I will never do anything to hurt you and that I'll stand by you, I'll never abandon you no matter how hard times get, I promise to never stop fighting for you, for us"_

_Barry put the ring on Len's finger and gave him one of his smiles that never failed to make Len's heart clench._

_"Well without further ado, I now pronounce you spouses for life" Stein finished and the moment he did Len pulled Barry forward and pressed their lips together._

_Len kissed him like it would be their last, he kissed him as if he could tell Barry how much he loved him just from their lips touching, he kissed him as though it would assure Barry that everything was going to be okay._

_When they pulled apart the two men stared at each other before taking the other's hand and heading inside with everyone for the party._

"Can't you make him forget?"

"Us altaring a speedsters memories will have terrible consequences. Besides, the heartbreak will only make him stronger in the long run"

 

_"Len don't go" Barry said as the rest of the team walked over to the Waverider._

_"Barry it'll be fine, you won't even realise I've gone, just like last time. You'll probably see me in a few moments anyway"_

_"Len please I have a terrible feeling about this"_

_Len sighed and wrapped his arms around his husbands._

_"Barry I'll be okay I promise"_

_"You can't promise me that" He murmured into Len's shoulder and Len rubbed his hand soothingly over Barry's back._

_"I can promise that, besides we all know that my survival comes before any of their lives"_

_Barry pulled back from Len's arms and looked him in the eyes_

_"But that's not true anymore, is it?"_

_Len smiled at Barry._

_"I'll be fine, now I've got to go, I love you Barry"_

_Barry pressed a quick kiss to Len's lips before Len started to walk towards to ship._

_"I love you too Len, and remember no matter how hard it might get, never stop fighting, make it back home to me"_

_Len waved and boarded the ship, he took a deep breath and walked over to his seat, pretending that he didn't also have a terrible feeling about this._

 

"This isn't really much of a choice is it?" Len laughed angrily, "I either allow mine and Barry's love to continue but in doing so cement his death because he'll be too weak to fight what's coming, or I have to forget everything we have and let his heart break when I don't even remember his name. When I don't remember everything about him."

"That is the way it has to be"

"Screw you" Len snarled, feeling tears well up in his eyes, "Screw all of you and your bloody timelines and all that crap. How can you say for certain that I can't stay with Barry, stay a hero for him and have him survive, how can you be certain?"

"We are not lying Leonard Snart, it would benefit no one. We don't want to see Barry Allen sad but it must happen."

Len put his head in his hands, "What happens to Barry if I go back as Captain Cold"

"Barry Allen will marry Iris West, with whom he will have two children called Don and Dawn, they will later become the Tornado Twins, his grandson Bart Allen will become known as Impulse. His entire family will go on to save lives but he can not do that with you in the picture"

"You don't seem to like me very much"

"I am indifferent to you Leonard Snart, but you are not what is best for The Flash"

"Will he be happy?"

"Eventually yes. It is Iris West that helps him through getting over you the most and that is one reason for the development in their relationship."

_"I don't know what I'd ever do without you Len"_

_"You'd probably have an easier life" Len laughed and Barry hit his arms_

_"I'm serious Lenny, next to my dad you're the one person that keeps me sane"_

"I'll do it"

 

_"Len are you okay?" Barry cried, as he flashed onto the Waverider, earning an attempt protest from Rip._

_Len scowled_

_"I'm fine Barry it's just a hand, it grew back"_

_"What if it hadn't? What if you'd lost it completely?"_

_"Then I wouldn't have one of my hands? I don't get why you're freaking out so much Barry it's just a hand"_

_"But what if it isn't next time Len?" Barry snapped, "What if next time it's your life."_

_"It won't be"_

_"You can't garuntee that Len! I swear to god I'll hate you if you don't come home to me"_

_"You don't mean that"_

_"Yes I do" Barry sobbed and he fell into Len's arms._

"Do you understand the consequences?"

 

_Len pushed Barry down onto the mattress, loving the way that his husband would try to lean up into his touch._

_Len kissed him slowly, hands moving everywhere, attempting to memories how his body felt._

_He started to trail kisses down Barry's neck, down his chest and back up again._

_Barry groaned._

_"God Len I love you so much"_

"Yes I do" Len said, and he wasn't ashamed by the tears that were falling down his face.  

"I'm sorry this had to happen Lenny, I'm here for you okay?" Fake Barry said and he sounded so much like Len's Barry that a sob escaped his lips.

"You're not my Barry"

"But I will be for this moment Len, I'll be anything you want"

Stepping forward Len put his hands on Barry's shoulders.

"I'm so sorry Barry, please forgive me" He said and brought his lips forward to meet his husbands.

 

 

Len groaned, sitting up on the sofa, he really needed to sort out this safe house, it was beginning to get trashed.

"Lenny?" Len heard his sister call and he looked towards the door where she stood.

"What Lise?" He drawled and he could have sworn he saw her wince.

"Uh it's … want to join me and Mick on our heist?"

"When did you have time to plan one without me noticing?" Len narrowed his eye's and Lisa laughed, but something still didn't feel right.

"Oh you'd be surprised, come on grab your stuff and let's go"

 

 

"Careful not to trip the alarm Lenny"

"Or what The Flash will come here? You know I love a challenge Lisa" Len laughed before firing his gun towards the glass surrounding an expensive artefact and almost immediately the alarm started to sound.

"Dammit Len why couldn't you listen to me for once" Lisa snapped and she sounded so angry that Len paused mid step.

"Lisa The Flash would have turned up to a heist eventually" Mick said and the two seemed to have a silent conversation before Lisa nodded and then grinned.

"Well we might as well give him everything"

The three of them pointed their gun's towards the entrance, waiting for the Scarlet Speedster.

At the sight of the streak of lightning Len felt his heart jump, he would never get over the feeling of a challenge.

"Len?" The Flash asked and Len frowned.

"How do you know my name Flash?"

The skin that showed behind the mask went white and The Flash stumbled backwards.

"I-I'm … Len it's me"

"Hello 'me'" Len drawled, "Now unless you're planning on telling me your real name I suggest we get on with this?"

"Lisa … Mick what's going on?" The Flash looked towards Len's partners and Len's hand twitched.

"Isn't it obvious Flash, we're here to rob the place, now if you don't plan on adding any … excitement to this then-"

Len lifted up his gun and as Lisa and Mick began to protest he shot his gun at The Flash and froze his legs to the floor.

The Flash let out a cry of pain and Len laughed.

"Come on, let's grab the stuff and go"

The three of them grabbed what they came for and as they walked out of the museum Len walked over to The Flash.

"Might want to up your game Scarlet"

"L-Lenny it's me, do you not-"

"Look I don't know who you think I am, or what you think is going on here but I suggest you jump out of your delusions, because next time if you don't make it interesting I'll have no use for you any more." Len smirked, "Anyway, have fun defrosting Flash, hope you don't get too chilly"

Len walked out of the back and cringed at the scream of pain and the cries that followed him out of the museum. Surely the gun didn't hurt that much.

 

 

Len stared at the ring on his finger, it was a simple gold band with 'keep on fighting' engraved on the inside.

"Lisa where did I get this ring?"

Lisa looked up and her features froze for a minute.

"I-uh – I don't know you just had it one day, I don't pay that much attention to you Lenny"

Len frowned and took the ring off of his finger.

Keep on fighting...  

There was nothing left worth fighting for.

Laughing Len threw the ring across the room and as he closed his eyes, he missed the way Mick and Lisa looked at him with heartbreak written across both of their faces.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I loved writing this and it really hurt to write but I also enjoyed it because it kind of filled in the void that Legends of Tomorrow left, also it shows how loved Len was so ...
> 
> Visit me on tumblr: perilofachopshop


End file.
